The concept is a sit-down pizza restaurant, complemented by arcade games, amusement rides, an animatronic show, and other diversions, such as climbing equipment, tubes, and slides − all mainly directed at younger children.[2] The brand is represented by Chuck E. Cheese, an anthropomorphic mouse.[2]

The company was founded as Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre by Nolan Bushnell in 1977, officially being labeled as the first family restaurant to integrate food, animated entertainment, and an indoor arcade.[2]Pizza Time Theatre and Showbiz Pizza Place merged in 1984, bringing both concepts under the wing of Showbiz Pizza Time, Inc.[3] In 1991–92, Showbiz Pizza Time, Inc. unified the two brands into Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza.[4] In 1994, Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza underwent a redesign, changing to Chuck E. Cheese's by 1995.[3] In 1998, Showbiz Pizza Time, Inc. was renamed to CEC Entertainment, Inc.[3][1] In 2007, the company celebrated its 30th anniversary,[3] and as of March 2014, it operates 577 restaurants.[1][5]

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Chuck E. Cheese's, originally referred to as Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater, was founded by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, who was seeking to expand the purview of video game arcades beyond more adult locations like pool halls to a kid and family friendly venue.[2][6] Bushnell’s experience in the amusement park industry, as well as his fondness of The Walt Disney Company, was influential in the conceptualization of the Pizza Time Theatre concept.[7] The first location opened in San Jose, California in 1977, and was labeled as the first family restaurant to integrate food, cheap animated entertainment, and an indoor arcade.[2] In 1978, Bushnell purchased the Pizza Time Theatre concept from Atari's then-corporate parent, Warner Communications.[8]

As the restaurant became increasingly successful, he began to franchise, resulting in a co-development agreement between Bushnell and Robert Brock of Topeka Inn Management in 1979. The agreement handed Brock exclusive franchising rights for opening Pizza Time Theatres in sixteen states across the southern and midwestern United States,[8] while also forming a company subdivision, "Pizza Show Biz", to develop the Pizza Time Theatres.[8]

In November 1978, Brock met Aaron Fechter of Creative Engineering, Inc. Concerned that Fechter’s animatronics would be too strong a competition for Bushnell’s work, Brock requested that Bushnell release him from the co-development agreement, citing misrepresentation.[8] In December 1979, Brock and Fechter formed “Showbiz Pizza Place Inc”, severing Brock's business relationship with Bushnell.[8]Showbiz Pizza Place was conceptually identical to Pizza Time Theatre in all aspects except for animation, which would be provided by Creative Engineering.[8] Showbiz Pizza Place opened its first location on March 3, 1980, in Kansas City, Missouri.[3]

Upon the opening of Showbiz Pizza Place, Bushnell sued Brock and Topeka Inn Management over breach of contract.[8] Brock immediately issued a counter-suit against Bushnell, citing misrepresentation.[8] The court case began in March 1980, eventually settling out of court with Showbiz agreeing to pay Pizza Time Theatre a portion of its profits over the following decade.[8] During this period, Topeka Inn Management also changed its name to Brock Hotel Corporation and moved its headquarters to Irving, Texas.[8] Both restaurants experienced increased success as the video game industry became more robust,[8] and, to maintain competition, both franchises continually modified and diversified their animatronic shows.

In 1981, Pizza Time Theatre went public; however, the evolving video game industry resulted in significant losses for Pizza Time Theatre, which lost $15 million in 1983, and by 1984, Bushnell’s debts were insurmountable, resulting in the filing of Chapter 11 bankruptcy for Pizza Time Theatre Inc. Showbiz then bought the foundering company, recreating itself as Showbiz Pizza Time Inc.[3]

After the merger, both restaurants continued operating under the different titles, while major financial restructuring had begun,[3] eventually becoming publicly traded in 1989, with sales increasing by 8.3%.[3][1] During this period, Creative Engineering began to sever ties with Showbiz Pizza Time (they officially left the company in September 1990), eventually resulting in the unification of its mixed characters. By 1992, all restaurants assumed the name of Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza.[4] However, the name was changed to Chuck E. Cheese's in 1994 during a redesigning of the concept.[3] In 1998, the company renamed itself CEC Entertainment, Inc. Part of this renaming was related to a move from the NASDAQ to the NYSE.[3][1] In 1999, CEC Entertainment, Inc. bought out competitor Discovery Zone.[9] Chuck E. Cheese's celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2007.[3]

In February 2014, Apollo Global Management acquired CEC Entertainment for US $54 per share, or about $950 million.[10] There are 577 open locations throughout North America, South America, Chile, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama,
Peru and the Middle East.[1][5]

From the time of the company's inception to today, one of the main draws for the stores has been the arcade.[2][1] The arcade games primarily consist of either redemption games or video arcade games.[11]

The brass tokens issued by the company for use in their arcades exist in numerous varieties, and are collected by exonumia enthusiasts.[12] The company once tested a card access method for use with their arcade and skill games in one location. The test location would no longer use tokens, and instead used a refillable card to access credits, which replace tokens, and points, which replaced tickets. However, this was later scrapped.[13]